Piano no bichi, Umi no sonata (The Piano beach, Sonata of the Ocean)
by The Storyteller and his Books
Summary: Kai is leaving for a Summercamp with his class, together with the newly School Mate Takako. While the days are going by, both make an incredible discovery at a bay, an Old Piano. Kai wants to repair it, but he and Takako have only one week of the summercamp to go, will they manage to repair it, and what happens to Takakos Feelings for Kai? Will they remain hidden or not, rated T
1. A new Beginning is always hard

ピアノビーチ、海のソナタ

Piano no bīchi, umi no sonata

( The Piano Beach, Sonata of the Ocean)

**Chapter 1: New Beginnings, a new, old Face.**

**Kai´s pov:**

It was the Summer 2003, and a day like everyone else, at least I thought so.

It has been now three months after Shuhei and Takako left back to Tokyo.

Things were boring, and I mean boring, not even my constant fights with Kimpira at school, no, not even the playing of my Piano in the forest was that interesting anymore, not that I actually gave it up, mind you, it was just like some endless repeat of the same things every day, nothing new seemed to happen.

Since days I was sulking whenever I had the time to, it felt as if I sunk into the darkness of a boring nothingness.

Though Ajino-sensei was teaching me many things, about Chopin, Mozart, Beethoven and many other famous Pianists and virtuoso, it became more and more boring to myself, so I began to compose own music pieces, more short but nice to hear.

Due to this, he came across the idea of sending me, before we would go out into the world, to become worldclass, towards the so called, Virtuoso village.

Virtuoso Village is a small academic Campus build like a little Village somewhere in the Town of Tokyo, it was said that there were living and learning musical geniuses, those of my kind, who are playing free and without limitations and rules.

"A place I can feel myself free, free to be like I am, free to play like I want, and free to play what and to whom I dedicate my piano-plays!" I mumbled.

"Might as well get interesting!" I said to myself, as I was on my way home, in the last few day I had strongly though about this, it was a chance maybe only being once in a lifetime offered to me, an opportunity every single one would take, however I have my second thoughts about this, going to Virtuoso village means that I would also vanish from home and from Rei, which has always been like a true mother to me, wherever she was it or not, to leave her would be really hard for me.

However…

"Maybe I will finally find other friends there, beside of Shuhei, and beside of Takako, it would be cool to get to know many geniuses same like me, who play different instruments!" I mumbled, quite in thoughts as I walked along the street towards mine and Rei´s apartment.

"But maybe Ajino will also be just together alone with Rei, so he sends me to a whole different place, so to say to get me out of the way!"

How shall I survive this next year of school anyways, dammit as if spending a year with Kimpira wasn´t enough, no, he even wants me to become a role model of a student, in exchange for his lessons so I was forced to take my lesson everyday..

"Hmm by the way, I ask myself how Takako and Shuhei keeping up with school, even after the finals, we had promised to write each other, but it was almost three weeks after the last letter of Shuhei.

Come to think of it, I haven't heard about Takako for quite some time either!" I mumbled to myself as I thought about it, it was true.

"Before she went back home, she gave me her address, in order to send letters, and I finally could convince her to stop calling me Wendy, since after all I was not her dog, and in her last letter she wrote something about a surprise I soon will get, I ask myself what this might be!" I said smiling; I was quite near the house at the "edge of the forest" however still not there yet.

"However, without the two, things are just like the school, boring as hell, good thing I still have the Piano to play!" I said, as I began to walk faster.

"Huh!" I looked up in the sky as I felt the raindrops falling, and faster than I knew a heavy shower was coming down, I still had to go good a mile or two.

"Aw shit, why now!" I said, as I searched cover in a bus stop.

"Krabaaaam!" Suddenly the darkening sky was enlightened by a massive white flash, the thunder was roaring seconds after.

"Why oh why, do it has to rain right now?" I asked myself as I watched the drops falling, lightning after lightning was going down and the sky was filled with ear-piercing canon like sounds, the sky was as if it was about to be torn apart.

"Krabaaaam!" the next one, one of the loudest so far, went down seconds after a Lightning went down right into the forest, near my beloved Piano.

"Oh, no, what if something happened to it!" I siad as I ran through the rain, I couldn´t care less about the rain pouring down on me, all which was in my head, was the Piano of the Forest.

"Please dear god of the Piano, don´t let it being hit!" I prayed as I ran through the forest, slipping here and there but somehow I made it to the clearing, only to see the world´s greatest horror for me.

"Noooooooooooooooooooo!" I shouted as I saw my Piano, the Piano of the Forest, being ignited in high flames, the shine burned itself in my brain, without me being able to do anything, but to fall on my knees.

I did not know, nor did I really cared, if it was only the rain which run over my cheek.

I looked at the fire, I couldn´t take my eyes of it, I did not recognized the fire fighters who suddenly ran past me, to put out the raging fire who had managed to attack the other trees.

"Kai, Kai, where are you, Kai, please someone did someone have seen him, Kai i…., Oh god Kai!" I only heard the voice of Rei as unimportant background sound, all of what I could think off was that the Piano I had played only yesterday, the piano I played, I lived and loved all my life, was set ablaze and burned down to ashes, vanishing as if it had never existed.

"My,….!" I started but I had to caught due to the smoke.

"Kai, Kai what is it?" Rei asked.

"My Piano, it, it…it died!" I said before everything went black.

**Meanwhile somewhere else:**

**Takako´s Pov:**

I was sour, since days me and my parents were breeding about a decision I had token, and it did not got us to nowhere, however the signs of a soon to come divorce, seemed to be unstoppable.

"Are you really sure you want to do that, I mean, you could have it so much better honey!" Mom said.

"Yes, I know, but this is my wish, in order to meet him and to become his apprentice I will do anything!" I said to her.

"Well if it is your wish, but say, is this Kai Ichinose really that good, I didn´t think he is suit for my little girl!" Father asked me.

"Father, he is the right one, no matter how often I listen to the recording, the song he played let tears welling up in my eyes, and filled my heart with sunshine, it was incredible.

If you would have been there that time, you would have experienced the same as I did, he was it who helped me more than everyone ever was able to help me.

His play is fabulous, far over what one calls perfect, even Amamiya´s perfect score for the Minute Waltz in the finals, would never be able to actually overcome this, no way, not in a million years!" I said with such a force that my parents simply had to believe me, although if they did, the didn´t showed it in the slightest.

I mean I heard it with my own ears, and thanks to him I was able to win the Judges Special Recognition award, even when I did not make it through the finals, it was a freeing experience to, for the first time ever, play the piano how and because I wanted to.

"Seems like our little Takako has fallen in love with that Kai boy!" Mom said teasing me, making me almost choke on my hot chocolate, while my dad´s mine darkened.

"What but, that´s not…, that's not true, truth be told, I like him and he is a gorgeous Pianist , but, I don´t think I'm in love with him, I mean, hell I'm only 10 you know, I can´t possibly fall in love with a boy so easily!" I said although my heart seemed to want to tell me different, I felt it, as it stung the moment I denied it.

"That's not that rare, look at us, I know your mother since the sandbox days and now look at us we are married since 20 years!" Dad said and I knew, by seeing them smiling sheepishly, that everything I would like to object to, was completely invalid.

"Yeah, however you are a Pianist and a violinist, and the hell you going to get along at days I am not there, I ask myself how hard you are actually pulling yourselves together to not jump on each other's throats, while you are with me !" I thought as I looked at their smiles.

"Maybe you are right, but I can´t possible know this yet, I mean I only know him for what, three months, as I said, we are friends, nothing more!" I said.

"For the moment, just give up Takako, you can´t fool us, just look at you, you are even changing school to be near him!" Dad said to me and I blushed.

"Although you have to be careful, he easily can break your heart, such boys are always thinking they would be among others and at the lead, oh how hard those have fallen, and how hard it has hit those around them!" Dad said.

"Kai is different, he would not rip one down with him, he would push the one away as best as he can before he falls!" I said, I knew that Kai never willingly would hurt someone's feelings, as long as that one hasn´t hurt his feelings very bad.

"I beg you pardon, how will you know this, can you perhaps see in his heart, or his mind, you might never know what he actually is really up to, maybe he just befriends you to later stab your back, or even worse, the world is full of such scum, thinking they are among us all just because they once did something right, scum like that shall remain where it came from!" mom said.

"Thank god that Kai is not like this, he is a honest boy!" I shouted.

"As if you would know, you are only 10!" Dad said.

"You…you guys don´t understand anything, you might be right about him not telling much about his motives or himself in general, but do I tell everyone every single personal thing, no, but I can tell you one thing, Kai Ichinose is more honest than both of you together, before you going all over other peoples, try to change yourselves!" I shouted, as I ran in my room and closed the door rather hard.

"Young lady, you going to come out of there, I am sick of your bad behaviour lately, you going to apologize to us instantly!" Dad shouted from behind the door, as he marched up the stairs.

"No and until you can´t be honest to yourselves, don´t try to talk bad about people you don´t even know!" I shouted before I locked the door.

"Takako, open the door, instantly!" Dad said as he hammered at my door.

"No, I won´t listen to your lies anymore!" I screamed.

"Takako come out and apologized, you only going to be in more trouble if you keeping this up, this will have consequences, young lady, don't you dare to even think that at this rate, we would let you go to the same school as this boy, his bad influence has already started to spread in your head!" Mom siad as she too came to my room´s door.

"For what shall I apologize, huh, about me telling the truth, don´t you think I don´t know how hard you fight at night, and how near you are to a divorce, as if I care what you are doing, but don´t try to rip me into it, don´t you dare to rip me down with you as you proclaim that Kai does it, however Kai is the one holding out a helping hand in such a situation, he would not step on my hands when I hang over the abyss!" I said and suddenly everything was silent, I knew I hit a critical beat at them.

"If only you would have been there, then you would have know what real harmony is!" I cried, as I slid myself on the floor, it was too hard to take, I longed for Kai´s peacefully play, making me able to block anything else out.

"This sound, I want to hear that sound again, so much!" I said over my crying, but even if I said this, that it was only because of his music, I could not forget his face, the happy face as he saw how many applause he became after his play.

"I never had a standing ovation, but his play was so fabulous and flawless, that one had to rise and applauded to him.

No matter what, I cannot forget him, … am I really…. In …love with him?" I thought to myself, as I looked up at the article of the Newspaper I had saved, it was of him how he played in the town on a glass piano, in front of hundreds of peoples with a few other musicians, it was to the time of Amamiya´s play in the last competition to be Japans best young pianist.

"I can never forget his happy laughing face whenever someone applauded to him,…., I want to see him again!" I said as I buried my face in my hands and cried.

I don´t know how long I cried , but eventually, I had sometime fallen asleep , right before the door to my room, it was deep in the night as I woke up, urging to use the bathroom, my beloved silent place, which gave me the nickname from Kai, the Bathroom princess.

"Araff!" Suddenly I heard a sound; I looked down to see Wendy sitting in front of me.

"Wendy!" I siad surprised, I did not thought that she still was awake.

"Oh Wendy, can it ….can it really be love?" I asked a dog, however it was pretty obvious that, even if Wendy would answer me, I would not be able to understand her answer.

"If I don´t know yet, I will find out… If I am …in love with Kai Ichinose!" I said as I looked out of my window, and up to the stars, after re-entering my room.

"Takako sama!" I heard the voice of Shiraishi-san.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Ah, young miss, I though you might be hungry, if you want I can make you something!" Shiraishi asked, she was for a long time our housekeeper and was there since my birth, over the years she has become a trustworthy and true friend of mine.

"If it wouldn´t be too much work for you, yes !" I said as my stomach growled.

"Geez ,sleeping while not having a full tummy is bad habit, you need your energy for the next day, young miss!" Shiraishi said.

"I know, it was just, I had to get away from them, they are so stubborn, they don´t understand anything, they never where at one of my competitions nor did they ever heard Kai plying, I know that his heart has to be honest, for a human without a honest heart and soul, would never be able to actually create such a harmony in his play!" I siad.

"I am on your side, Takako sama, I heard this boy playing with my own ears, and I never, excuse my rudeness, but never not even in your play, have heard such a peacefully melody in a piano play like in the one of this boy, it was as if this boy was gifted by god and the angles themselves!" Shiraishi said honestly.

"No need to excuse I know, I love his music, and yes, perhaps I have also been fallen in love with kai, but for the time being I only want to hear one more time his piano!" I siad.

"Yes, it would be an honour to hear it again, it gives me true Goosebumps to hear him playing!"

"I can agree to that me too, it is as if his music was from out of this world, a music , so wonderfull, that is should not exist, but it does, and all we humans can do is begging for an encore!" I siad.

+that might be true, but let´s skip this talk to tomorrow , now eat and then into bed, you will need all the energy you can get for tomorrows competition!" Shiraishi convinced me.

"The how many is this?" I asked myself.

"The second since that day!" Shiraishi answered

"Maybe he will be there?" I said as I looked into the nightsky over our balcony.

"Yes maybe, Takako sama, I too wish to hear him play again!" Shiraishi said.

**Meanwhile back in the "Edge of the Forest":**

**Kai´s Pov:**

" uuuuuuhhhh, my head hurts!" It was as if I had been hit, with a ton of bricks all at once, I woke up in the middle of the night and my first thought was the Piano.

"Can it really be, its it really not there anymore?" I asked as I recalled everything I could remember.

"What should I do now, this has to be a bad dream.

"I see, you are finally awoken!" Rei said as she went in the living room and next to me on the couch.

"So it really is true, my piano,….., it has burned down didn´t it?" I asked after a while sighing from the deepest of myself.

"Unfortunately yes, the Lightning struck the tree right behind it and sat both, tree and Piano ablaze!" Rei said with a sorrowful face.

" What shall I do now, what can I do, without that piano, it will never be the same anymore!" I said, as I cried.

"Kai, I know that the Piano was a precious treasure to you but…!"

"No, no buts, you don´t understand, this Piano, it wasn´t just a thing,…, nor was it simply my treasure, it was my friend, a friend same as Amamiya and Takako, it has been there for me , for all this time until a few hours ago, we had our good and bad times, but it never let me down!" I shouted.

"Kai, please stay calm, I, I know that you felt deeply for the Piano, but it is gone, it won´t come back, no matter how much you cry or hope or want, accept it, it is gone forever, at least physically, but as long as you hold it in your memory, its resonance will never be gone, it will forever live in you, that's what Ajino sensei said too!" Rei tried to explain.

"All of you, you don´t understand anything!" I siad as I stood up, I was about to leave.

"But Kai, I, Kai!" Rei tried to reach out for me.

"Let go of me, as long as you cannot understand what I am going through right now, you don´t need to ever speak about It again, understood!" I said as calmly as I could, before I ran out of the room and in my own Room, I carefully locked the door, before I jumped on my bed to drown in the loss of my precious friend.

"There is only one person, who might understand me right now!" I siad as I looked at the article of the newspaper, it was as Takako has got the Judges Special Recognition award, her laughing face was cute, I had to admit.

Ever since we saw each other last, she did not have gone out of my mind, not even Amamiya was so often in my run of thoughts.

And whenever I thought about her, I had that fuzzy feeling in my chest.

"Can it be, am I maybe attracted by her, sure she is nice and beautiful, but, …really, maybe I am or not, only time and god can tell, maybe she is the key, maybe I someday can play with full joy, maybe I will find a new piano, one that suits me!" I said to myself.

It was not long before I fell asleep.

**A Week later:**

"Now, now Children, please calm and sit down!" Our Homeroom teacher said trying to calm the class, it only worked after she scratched something metallic at the blackboard.

"AAAAH!" All of us shouted, as we covered our ears, it was dead silent afterwards.

"Finally, sigh, now class, listen carefully!" she said, gaining our all attention beside of mine, I did not really listened, not more than I did every day since my Piano has burned down.

"Kai this contains you as well!" the Teacher said.

I sighed and turned to pay attention to her.

"Today I have two good news for you, first, starting from today on, we have a new classmate, may I introduce you to Takako Maruyama, Takako would you like to enter!" The teacher said and I did not trust my ears.

"Takako is coming from Tokyo and was same as our old classmate from last year, Shuhei Amamiya, one of the 10 finalists of the Nationwide Piano contest three months ago!" The Teacher said.

"Do we only get Piano idiots in our class or what?" Kimpira asked.

"Take that back!" I said with a deep low voice.

"Huh, are you saying something imp!" Kimpira asked as he stood up and moved his fat ass to my desk.

"I said… take , that, back!" I said as calmly as I could, fists forming under my desk.

"And what if I don´t do that, is she your girlfriend, your little pianoidiot from next door!" Kimpira said laughing, I saw tears welling up in Takako´s eyes as she was called names by Kimpira, I couldn´t not bear to see her this way.

"Hey I am speaking to you imp, are you already too deaf to hear me, Piano-ass, if you like to play so much, then go to your piano, oh oops, I forgot, your piano dislikes you so much that it has decided to rather burn down than being played by you!"

"Kimpira this is enough!" Takako said taking a step at my direction, only to be pushed to the ground by Kimpira.

"Oh shut up piano-bitch!" He said, and it was dead silent in the class.

"What did you just said?" I asked him, my anger was at the boiling point, I was seconds before exploding, even the Teacher could see that.

"Kai don´….!" She began before being interrupted by Kimpira laughing.

"Huh, are you deaf for real, I said she shall be silent, that damn piano bitch, all of you damn piano idiots, our village is better off without you!" Kimpira Said and the first tears rolled over Takako´s face, I couldn´t bear it any longer.

"Don´t you dare to call Takako names!" I screamed, as I jumped up and slayed my fist right into his face.

To say he was surprised was an understatement; he was beyond believing what just happened

"Take that back, take that back!" I shouted over and over, while my fist made repeatedly contact with his face.

My rage was not being able to be stopped anymore, all those years of being bullied for something I love and now he bullies someone who just came to know what it´s like to love to play piano, no I could not allow this.

"No one is calling Takako Maruyama ever an idiot or a bitch again, got it!" I shouted after he had enough and was crying under me.

"If even one of you dares to call her names, he will feel the wrath of my fist, has everyone understood this!" I shouted and everyone nodded.

"And to you Kimpira, try to make fun of her, try to make her cry, or to hurt her in any possible way and you can see how comfortable a hospital bed is, did you understand that, or is you brain already that much shrunk together!" I asked him with fire in my eyes.

"Please, Kai, it is alright, I, don´t want you to do this!" Takako said.

"No I have to get my point straight, Takako, thanks to guys like him, many of the geniuses out there who want to play will never be able to do it, because of the traumata they receive from bullies like him, if I was a little like Shuhei, I would have never found the piano-play for myself thanks to him!" I shouted with tears in my eyes, I did not know why I was so angry, but I just didn´t wanted Takako to cry thanks to that asshole.

"It will not matter anyways, since your damn thing of a piano has burned down, you will never be able to play it again!" Kimpira shouted, before I slayed a last time in his face breaking his nose finally.

Our Homeroom teacher shivered at the sight and she looked quite pale. Before she sunk to the ground.

"I go, don´t expect me to come back for the rest of the day, right now I cannot be in school, I am too angry, please to you all, treat Takako nice, she is a fine lady and if I hear anything about her feeling bad here, I will hunt every single one down who makes her feeling bad!" I siad before I run.

"But Kai!" Takako said as I went past her.

"I´m sorry but I have to be alone right now, try to have a nice day though, I will meet you after school, in the forest at the edge of the town, deep inside where once my Piano stood!" I whispered to her as I embraced her, she blushed fire-red, I ignored the nasty remarks behind our backs.

"I will come, for sure!" She said, before I let her go, I gave one last hard glance at the class and moreover at Kimpira.

I knew I would be in so much trouble later, but right now, I couldn´t care less about that.

"I´m going!" I said as I took my backpack and ran out of class.

"What, …what just happened!" Our teacher said.

**Takako´s pov:**

"Anyways, can someone bring Kimpira to the School nurse please, and someone has to contact Ajino-sensei, he might be right, but I cannot let Kai going away with such a brutality!" the teacher said.

"But it is not his fault!" I started protesting but was cut off.

"I´m sorry Takako that you had to see that, I hope you don´t think now worse about us, it´s usually more calmer in here!" the Teacher said.

"By the way, I am Mrs. Arisa Koyama, please call me simply Koyama-sensei!" Koyama-sensei said.

"Now we need a free place and, …oh my.. sigh, I guess there´s only one place free, right next to Kai Ichinose, the boy who just ran out, excuse me the question, but, do you perhaps know him from before?" Mrs. Koyama asked.

"Yeah from the Competition, he helped me to make a good performance before it was his turn!" I said truthfully.

"Wait, Kai has participed in the same contest as Shuhei, I bet he failed didn´t he, he is always so harsh and no matter how good he might be, against Amamiya he would just have no chance at all!" Mrs. Koyama asked with a self-pleased grin.

"Yes, yes he did failed, but only because his performance was too good for the normal standards of the Competition!" I shouted making the Homeroom teach buff by my reaction.

"But Maruyama-san….?"

"Just because no one else can match him, just because no one else beside me and his teacher can understand him, doesn´t mean that his piano is bad, he was the best out of all of us, to good for a simply competition!" I shouted before I ran out, I did not know where I would end up, but I ran out of the school over the streets and into the forest behind.

"No one understands him but I, I am the only one who likes him, not even his Homeroom teacher likes him, how is that possible, he is the nicest guy I ever have met before, he showed me what it means to actually really love to play the piano and not to force myself to play it as perfect as anyone wants!" I said as I ran with a determined face further.

"Where is he, I have to see him, Kai, Kai, where are you?" I shouted through the forest.

"Grrrrr!" Suddenly there was a sound behind me, I spun around to see a bear, how was that possible, it though bears would not exist here in this quarter of the land.

"Oh god , no, please, no, please, Nooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

**Kai´s Pov:**

I did not stopped until I was deep in the forest, right before the black spot which once has been my Piano.

"What have I done… why have I done this… why did I freaked out that much!" I asked, as I looked at my blood-stained hands, I sat down against the burnt tree and close my eyes to visualise the face of Takako, somehow, a warm feeling filled my chest.

Then I thought about the words Kimpira had said to her.

"Piano idiot and Bitch, how dare him to call her names!" I said, as I suddenly felt anger and hatred walling up inside me.

"Is, this… what one calls, …loving someone?" I asked, as I looked at the picture of her, which was on the newspaper the day after the finals.

"Takako!" I whispered as I looked at the picture of her smiling face.

"Noooooooooooo!" Suddenly a loud scream, echoed through the forest.

"This voice, it´s Takako´s!" I shouted as I began to run through the forest back to where I came from, it seemed like she had followed me and was now in trouble.

"Wait Takako, I come!" I mumbled as I ran through the woods.

"Takako, where are you?" I shouted.

"Kai, I´m here, please help me!" I heard her voice as I came on a clearing.

"Takako, ohhh holy shit…!" I stopped hard at the sight.

She backed away slowly as a bear walked straight in front of her, eventually she was trapped, with a tree in her back.

"Please help me Kai!" She whispered, with tears in her eyes looking at me.

"Takako, stay calm, whatever he does stay calm, I will figure something out!" I said, as I thought about what to do, I could not risk to make the bear angry, it was rather better to somehow knock him out, but how.

In the end only one option left, so I jumped right in front of Takako.

"Run Takako, run!" I shouted as I attacked the bear.

"Kai, don´t do this, Kai!" I heard Takako shouting.

"Run dammit, why won´t you run!" I shouted as the bear raise to his full height, looking quite terrifying.

"Nayru, stop this, Come here!" Suddenly a voice said.

"Don´t make me use this!" The voice shouted, I looked towards where the voice was coming from, to see a woman standing ready with a gun.

"Nayru this is your last warning, leave the children in peace and nothing will happen to you!" The Woman said, the bear however looked at me and came closer to my face with his snout.

"Nayru I am counting to three, one… two… thr!"

"Stop it!" I shouted at her, before I suddenly felt the raw tongue of Nayru on my cheek.

"Raaawww!" The Bear made , as if it purred, while it keep touching me with its head as if to be crawled, just the way cats asking for attention.

"See, he won´t do me anything, pack that gun away!" I said to the woman.

"Thank god, I did not had to shoot, I never can bear that, no matter how often I have to do it, you know Nayru Is a Circus-bear and very curious as a youngster, though we raised him per hand, one never can say if her really ever becomes that nice to people, there are people he likes and peoples he dislike, but I guess he like you two!" The Woman said.

"By the way, my name is Harumi Mito; I am one of the animal-caretakers of the Circus Amarila!" The woman said.

"I am sorry that Nayru has scared you so much, please accept my apology!" She said as she bowed before us.

"No need to do that, it was nothing!" I said quite embarrassed.

"By the way I am Kai Ichinose and this is Takako Maruyama!" I said as I pointed at Takako, which slowly and carefully touched Nayru´s ears, only for the bear to suddenly turn around and to demand for a belly rub.

"Oh my, I think he really likes you!" Harumi said.

"Harumi, have you found him yet!" Suddenly new Voices were heard.

"Yes he´s over here!" Harumi shouted.

"Thank god, he is alright, I see so you had not to narcotize him!" The man, with a tall hat, who appeared from out of the forest, said.

"Thank god not, but I really thought Nayru would attack those kids!" Harumi said.

"Guys , meet my Fiancée, Marik Sumiyama, the son of the Director!" Harumi siad as she introduced him, while he bowed.

"Hmm, Hmmm, yes, could it be, the description is quite matching, excuse me but are you perhaps, by any chance, the boy called Kai Ichinose, the wonder-boy who plays the piano like the angle are signing, heavenly?" Mr. Sumiyama asked.

"Yeah that would be me, why so?" I asked confused.

"Thank god I found you, excuse me, but I have a big request!" The Director´s son said.

"What can I do for you?" I asked even more confused and suspicious of that man.

"Well you see, we are a wandering circus and lately, our pianist has broken his hand only yesterday in the previous village, and well now I miss on a pianist who plays in the orchestra, I asked everywhere in this village but everywhere I ask I always get that one name, Kai Ichinose, if you are that Boy, please, please, I beg you help us, please play the piano this evening, of course not without reward.

We will give you free tickets for all your friends and for each act for the next week we will give you, 41.683 Yen ( 300 Euro).

Our Circus makes only evening shows, so plenty of time to relax after school , until you will play, we make Two Shows each day, so 14 Shows at all, makes in total 583.562 Yen how does this sound!" Mr. Sumiyama asked.

"Alright, let me think about this, if I do, I want that as a written contract got it, and don´t try to betray me, got it!" I said.

"Alright, you have time until this evening, at 7 pm!" The Co-director said before he went away.

"Are you really going to do this, I thank you so much, it tell you it was really unfortunate that our pianist has broken his hand!" Harumi said.

"Well it is always sorrowful to see a good talent going to waste because of an accident!" Takako said.

"You´re right, I mean I wish I could have heard how Ajino sensei played before he had his accident!" I said.

"Ajino, you mean Sousuke Ajino, the former master-pianist?" Harumi asked.

"Yeah exactly him!" I said.

"Lucky you, I am quite the fan and have some old recordings of his concerts, if you want we can go and look them at my place, kind of as pre-reward if you truly going to help us out!" Harumi said.

"Yeah why not, that would be awesome, since we both kind of skip school anyways, by the way, why were you here anyways Takako, didn´t I told you to still have a good day at school, come think of it, I wanted to apologize that you had to see my bad side!" I said to her.

"I can understand it, I would also punch someone if my friends would get insulted!" Takako said to me, as we walked through the forest.

"So why were you skipping classes?" I asked.

"Because of how rude they talk about you behind your back, I mean they don´t understand anything about the world we three, Amamiya you and I are living in, playing piano to get better and to the top, training hard, I hated the way our Homeroom teacher laughed about you participating in the competition!" Takako said and I went pale.

"Wait you told them I participate, geez Takako that was a secret, no one had to know this, now they are going to pick on us more than before!" I shouted but one look on her sad face made me stop instantly.

"I´m sorry I didn´t meant to shout at you, but I kept it a secret for Three months now!" I said more calmly, with a smile.

"Sorry I , I didn´t knew what else to say, I wanted them to be at least proud of you, but it was more like they were relieved that we had failed to win, that made me angry, I cried and before I know what happened to me, I was in the forest and met Nayru and you guys!" Takako explained honestly as tears were welling up in her eyes.

"Hey don´t cry, everything is alright!" I siad as I cupped her in an embrace, while she cried in my shoulder.

"Why, can´t they see, why can´t anybody see how great you are, as friend and as pianist!" Takako said as she pressed me harder at her.

"No one will ever understand you better than I do!" Takako said.

"Guys, I'm going forward, just follow this path to its end and you will find the place we have built up the Circus, just ask after me and they will show you the way, okay!" Harumi said as she looked at us and seemed to become nervous.

"Alright thank you very much Harumi for your help earlier, we will soon come!" I said with Takako still in my arms.

"Don´t let me wait too much!" she said with a knowing grin, before she walked way.

"Takako, is everything alright?" I asked.

"No it´s not, no one understands me, but you, you are the only one Kai, you are the one who knows best how I feel right now!" Takako said to me, as she looked at me with teary eyes.

"What makes you think I will know, I barely know what I shall do, as you heard, has my whole existence, my oldest friend, has died, in the flames, all what´s left of it, is dust and ashes!" I siad to her.

"That's what I mean, you lost something dear to you, something which is worth same as a mother or a dad, and I too, I slowly begin to lose my family, behind their pretty façade, as a good working family, is actually a dysfunctional family, my Dad hates my mother and my mother hates my dad and I slowly begin to hate both for always fighting!" Takako said as we sat down on a bench next to a tree on another clearing.

"You know, my mom is actually a violinist and my father a pianist, they met since childhood and became a pair, as they played in the same orchestra in high-school.

It all was good for ten years, before I was born, with my birth the drift began, it was always the big question, to who´s talent I would earn, my mother wanted me to become a violinist, my father insisted to make me becoming a pianist.

I however didn´t really wanted anything of both, I wanted nothing more than to sing, before I was able to do so however, my Mom and my father paid, behind each-others back, lessons for me in violin or in piano, my schedule for one week was as packed as possible, this went so over years, before I someday ended up in hospital after I blacked out during violin lessons, then the whole thing was covered up.

The doctor said that I had to choose one instrument!" Takako told me and I was buff, I had absolutely not though with such a story behind her determination to become a good pianist.

"So you have chosen the piano afterwards?" I asked and she nodded.

"It was the only one where I could at least sit, logically was my mother disappointed, I think she never really forgave me that I did not chose the violin, whenever we were in public she acted as if everything was alright, but behind the curtain she only got me ice cold glances , as if she hoped, that I soon would get sick of the piano.

I was a good pianist and Father always cheered me on to learn more, I felt a little loved, I guess, well at least I thought so, however I was still a kid back then, my father was as pianist very busy, so he paid the best but also the most strict Teacher.

He for himself however never ever before, has come to one of my performances or competitions, the only one who always was at my side was Shiraishi-san, my Nanny and housekeeper and my dear friend, she always cheered cried and laughed with me, she was more family than those I was born from, the outside might not see it, but the more I grow up, the more I begin to lose the mirror I call family out of my grasps, maybe someday it will fall and shatter to pieces, this will be the moment when father and mother will leave each other!" Takako told, while the tears were not able to stop coming.

"You are right, I can understand, you know, I was born in a brothel, by a woman called Rea Sakimi , it´s said that she was a real bitch, someone who slept with just everyone, and not even always for money, at one of those nights, I have been born, the first thing she did the day after, was giving me towards her friend, Reiko Ichinose, it would be useless to say that Reiko was buff about what my mother did, and in a terrible and bloody fight, she cut all ties with her, two years later, It was said that she died on an overdose of cocaine, my father, well I never met him, nor do I have even a clue who it shall be, and I know I won´t be able to see him anyways as a father, someone who never cared if I exist, who not even knew it.

Reiko raised me as her son, Kai Ichinose, until I was old enough to go on my own, then she began to work again as hostess, she was not like my mother but she was what came the most near to a mother for me, so yeah, you were right Takako, I understand your feelings, of not really belonging in a family anyways, my parents never wanted me and only shoved me to someone else.

I though was raised as a happy child, but we never had much to live comfortably, but ourselves and the money from moms job, since I am 7, I began working in the brothel she worked, as boy for anything, doing the house-chores, preparing the costumes, cleaning glasses and so on, thanks to that the proprietary of the brothel let us live for free in a room.

So you can say that you worked hard for the recognition of your parents, while I worked hard to hold up what I call my life, in all this time, the Piano In the forest was always my spot of peace, there where I could forget everything and just be myself, but now, since I have been robbed of this place, I don´t know what to do!" I explained.

"Oh my, you too have such a hard life, even more than I, wherever my parents don´t really care about what I do, as long as I do it good, I still live more or less comfortable but when I imagine at how you lived, but of how happy you were with your adoptive mother, I am a bit jealous of you!" Takako said honestly.

"I have everything but the love of my parents, you have close to nothing but the love of a mother by heart, this might sound egoistic, but it is the truth, all I have, all I am, means nothing if I cannot share it with someone, that's why I love Shiraishi so much, she is for me what Reiko-san is for you, closer to a loving mother than everyone else!" Takako said.

"I never knew how you were able to play the piano so well, but now I think I might solved this question, its because you fill in your emotions into the play, all of us who participate in the contest, always just aim to be the best, all of us were hoping to make a good performance, however you, that day, were the only one who actually wanted to play piano simply because it was your wish to do so, you did not forced yourself to play for any kind of recognition, you played because you wanted to play.

This is what made you shine upon us all, what makes you a one of a kind, dusting off old tracks and play them new and as an own version of yourself. All I could do by now, was trying to copy your style of playing and somehow convert my own emotion inside to make it a play able to become my style, but it does not works, that's why I ask you Kai, please help me find my own melody, my own style!" Takako said as she bowed before me.

"But Takako I am also just a student, and hell I don´t know any other track than the few I have learned so far from Ajino sensei, you could say that beside of knowing how to play, and to tune a piano, I know close to nothing about pianists and piano music!" I tried to reason her.

"That might be true, but I beg you, I don´t want to play anymore to gain someone`s recognition, from now on I only want to make music whenever I want and however I want, not bothering the cold glances of my parents which have been directed on me, for so long now, since I never won a competition anymore since that day, it might be only two competitions but I gave my best on finding my style, but without the experience of someone who lives this freedom for all his live, I will always just try to copy everyone, I want to find my own style, but to do so I first have to know how and where to seek!" Takako said.

"I guess you are right there!" I said.

"Well if you really would like to bear with me, we can try but don´t blame me if it does not work out as you want to, okay!" I siad.

"Won´t happen, so…, when shall we start?" Takako asked me.

"How about right now, I still have to see Ajino-sensei´s recording and to decide wherever I take on the offer to play piano for the circus or not, would you like to help and to follow me?" I asked and she nodded.

"But first I have to go home, school probably has called Ajiono sensei or mom, I will be in a hell lot of trouble!" I siad and she nodded sadly.

"Hey cheer up, its not the first time for me!" I siad and she began to smile a bit.

"Well then, let´s go, off to where I live!" And so we stood up and made our way towards the edge of the forest.

**An hour Later:**

**Takako´s pov:**

"So, here we are, thats where I live and where I was born… Takako, I have one rule when I shall take you with me!" Kai said to me.

"What is it Kai?" I asked.

"You might see things normally inappropriate for children, maybe I will break your innocent mind by taking you here, that's why, when we now are going to enter this place, stay at my side no matter what happens!" Kai Said.

"Will it be dangerous?" I asked excited, I never was in such a kind of environment, my parents and moreover Shiraishi would become a heart-attack.

"More than dangerous, I wish you to get in and out safely, that's why we will hide in the shadow, however there is always something lurking in the shadow so be careful!" He said and I nodded.

"Alright then, here we go, to the Place where I was born!" Kai said.

And so we entered this gloomy dark place full of mysteries, what would I find here, maybe the answer of how Kai was able to play so much and so good, what makes him Kai Ichinose.

**A/N: Edited and advanced, and still the same question, how do you think of this first Chapter, was it good was it bad tell me in a review, a thanks in advance.**


	2. The Edge of the Forest, A Camp to come

ピアノビーチ、海のソナタ

Piano no bīchi, umi no sonata

( The Piano Beach, Sonata of the Ocean)

**Chapter 2, The Edge of the Forest, The Circus Concert.**

**Takako´s Pov:**

"Whatever will happen, please stay close to my side!" Kai said, as he offered me his hand.

Good thing, that it still was that dark here outside, or else he would have seen me blushing furiously.

"Okay!" Was all I could say, before I took his hand, making me blushing even more.

His hands were warm, gentle but still strong for a boy who was just a few months younger than me.

"Well then, shall we!" He asked and I nodded before we entered this Place, we held in the shadow, although not for long, because dark sinister silhouettes were seen lurking in the dark.

"I wished it was not so packed on Friday nights!" Kai mumbled.

"Takako watch out!" Kai suddenly said before something or someone bumped in me, pushing me to the ground.

"Well, well, well, isn´t it a little ant, you guys always think you can just bump inside of everyone without consequences, first this black-haired boy and now you, the money for the cleaning I still haven't back, but you, you going to pay!" The man I bumped in, said as he took me by the collar and lifted me up.

"Let go of Takako!" Kai shouted as he came to my rescue.

"Ha who are you to tell me what to do, maybe you forget your position, you are just the worthless son of a bitch, not more and not less, I am a good customer of your mom, so you better treat me well!" The Man, looking like a yakuza, said while his companions laughed.

"That gives you not the right to pick on Takako, let her go I say!" Kai said as he tackled the man, only to be slain down by another man.

"I said you better treat me well, you little scum, I am the one who upholds you and your mother´s worthless existence!" The man said before he went away, as another one took me over the shoulders.

"Kai, no let go of me, Kai, Kai I beg you, help me!" I shouted to an knocked out Kai.

"Kai I beg you, help me!" I screamed.

"Keep your trap shut you little whore!" The Yakuza guy say.

"Don't!"

"Huh!" suddenly the men turned around, only to see Kai standing there, blood was flowing over his face.

"Back on your feet I see, well I am always open on round two, come at me if you can!" The Yakuza guy grinned.

"DON'T YOU DARE TO CALL TAKAKO NAMES!" Kai shouted as he came running for me.

I saw it almost in slow-motion, how the beer bottle was lifted, only to let it crash back down to hit Kai´s head, however this time Kai seemed to have made out their plan, as he swung a metal-pipe right through the beer-bottle, letting it shatter to pieces, into the head of the attacker, before running further.

I was in awe at the just witnessed, it truly was as if Kai was a knight in shining armor, coming to my rescue.

"Oh you little scum!" The Yakuza said as he took out a gun, I knew what he was about to do, so I struggled as hard as I could against the man holding me.

"He, ow, stop this, stop this you little bitch!" The man said as he hit my butt with his hand repeatedly, before stroking it.

"You sure have a nice butt girl!" The man, quite drunken anyways, said, as Kai witnessed this, it made him even madder.

"Don't Touch Takako this way, let go of her!" Kai screamed as he ran with the pipe, just like a samurai with a katana.

"Say good bye to a world, which don´t need you anyways!" The Yakuza guy said as he pointed his gun at Kai.

"Oh no you don´t!" Suddenly someone said behind the Yakuza Guy, as he suddenly was knocked out by a falling flower pot to his head.

"Boss, Boss!" The man said as they ran to the guys side, the one who held me, threw me away, and almost into the dirt, if not Kai would have catched me.

"Takako are you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah I am, I'm so sorry Kai, for causing you trouble!" I said as I began to cry.

"No, I am sorry Takako that I brought you here!" Kai said.

"No, I mean I followed you, I wanted to see where you live and where you have learnt to play the piano, if anything it is my fault, I was the one bumped in that guy after all!" I assured him, tears still running over my cheek.

"Hey don´t cry, stand up and let´s get away from here, we are safe as soon as we reach the place where I live!" Kai said as I felt something wet on my face, before I knew it, Kai had kissed my tears away, I was buff, I never have been touched by a boy nor kissed, even though it was just to dry my tears.

"Oh no you go nowhere, you little scum, you miserable ant, this time I going to kill you for sure!" The Yakuza guy, back on his feet said as he pointed his gun again at me.

"Chack, chack!" Suddenly the noise of multiple loaded and unsecured guns was heard.

"If you are ready to die then shoot but we going to hole you like a sieve!" A female voice said, we looked behind us to see a mob of women and a few men pointing with guns at the Yakuza gang.

"Argh, you going to regret that!" The Yakuza guy said before he and his companions ran away, on hot pursuit of the women mob.

"Mom i…!"

"Batch!" Suddenly I saw that Kai was slapped across the face by his mother.

"Do you even have the slightest idea of what a luck you had, Kai, you know exactly how dangerous this part of the town is, how can you bring that girl in here so easily, that was so irresponsible of you!" Kai´s mother shouted, as she scolded him.

"Please, it was my fault, I followed him, even though he told me not to, even though he told me how dangerous it was!" I said standing up and bowing.

"And you are?" Miss Ichinose asked.

"I am Takako Maruyama, I am a classmate of Kai!" I siad politely.

"I see, and what made you follow him here?" Miss Ichinose asked.

"He saved me, in school and in the forest, I wanted to know how he lives and what made him so talented in playing piano!" I said truthfully.

"Wait, I heard this name once, Maruyama, Maruyama, where did I hear this?" Miss Ichinose mumbled to herself, while Kai stood up and dusted his pants off.

"May I introduce you, this is Takako Maruyama, The Bathroom-princess!" Kai said.

"Ah now I know, you are the girl, who participated in the pre-election for the Best young pianist of whole Japan and made it to the second round, you won the special recognition award, didn´t you?" Miss Ichinose asked.

"Yeah, that was me!" I said with a smiled, before shivering under the creepy smile Kai´s mom gave him.

"Kai, …., How dare you to bring a girl, from such a good family, to us in this lust quarters.

Have you gone completely insane, what if something had happened to her, her parents would come and could put me in jail and yourself too!" Miss Ichinose said, as she put Kai over the knee.

Useless to say that he was embarrassed to no end, to be put over the knee so easily and in the entire quarter to see.

"Please Miss Ichinose, it was not his fault, as I told you, I was the one following him, he helped, defended and rescued me, now even three times!" I siad to her, as she stopped to look at me.

"Three times, huh, seems like you are quite the hero, alright, well see this as your punishment for breaking Kimpira´s nose, school has called, it seemed that you have had a bad influence on your new classmate!" Miss Ichinose said, before she laughed.

"A Bad influence, Hahaha, Kai, and a bad influence, best joke ever!" She said and I did not understand but chose to better not ask.

"Anyways, let´s go, we have to clean that before you will go back home, or else your parents will scold you for it!" She said as she pointed at my dress, which has been gotten quite dirty from the forest and the street here.

"I guess so!" I mumbled.

"Everyone, I´m heading back with the kids, okay!" Miss Ichinose said.

"Alright Reiko, we going to keep the street clean from the yakuza guys!" The men said.

"Thanks guys, Alright you two, come with me!" She said as she leaded us the way.

"Um, Takako!" I heard it coming from my side; I looked to see a blushing and quite embarrassed Kai.

"I, I would appreciate, if this would remain under us!" he said blushing tomato red in embarrassment.

"Of course Kai, I won´t tell a soul!" I said.

"That was quite embarrassing, so in front of all people, there´s just no one who is going to take me serious from now on!" he mumbled.

"There we are!" Miss Ichinose said.

"But , Miss Ichinose!?" I asked in shock.

"Just call me Reiko-san!" Miss Ichinose said.

"Uhmm, well Reiko-san, isn´t this, a, a brothel?" I asked in shock.

"Yeah so what, ah now I understand, sigh, I guess Kai haven´t told you that we live in a brothel, not?" Reiko-san asked.

"Well yeah, but I kinda though this was meant as joke!" I said as I still was shocked.

"Well no, I meant what I said!" Kai said as he looked away.

"So that means you really are a, a,..?" I was a loss of words.

"Yes I am a Whore!" Reiko-san said, before she was suddenly slapped across the face by Kai.

"Don´t you dare to call yourself something like that, you are a hostess, that is a world of difference, got it!" Kai screamed, before he ran inside.

"I guess we haven't really covered ourselves in glory this way, you must know, Kai hate it when someone he likes gets called names, or he himself has to hear, that that one calls him/herself something less than he/her is!" Reiko said.

"I know, he saved me from Kimpira and those men!" I said.

"Yeah I still have to give him a reward for his heroism, please come inside, I promise while you are in my company nothing is going to happen to you, they wouldn´t dare to touch you!" Reiko-san assured me.

"Oh Okay!" I said, I was a bit afraid, about what I was to see while entering this place.

It was though a quite beautiful looking environment, the house was decorated in the western style and in looking at the interior and without the people inside you would not even think it was a brothel, however I saw many lightly-dressed women walking around, while men were sitting either on the bar drinking beer or whatsoever, or talking at the different tables with the women who are working here.

"So that´s the place where Kai-kun is living!" I siad in awe as I looked around.

"I guess I have to agree to Kai, the women who are working are not really whores, but rather hostess, sometimes the men only come to have a few hours of talking, drinking and laughing with us, nothing more, it´s though not rare that more get out of it, but mostly the men who are coming here are feeling lonely and want to have some company, I wouldn´t let Kai getting near a room where a man and a woman are inside, so no fear , he does not know many of the dirty things which are going to happen here, it is unfortunately the only work I can do properly without having to go study, and with our already quite low budget it is also not sure if I ever would manage to start another work!" Reiko-san explained.

"So that's why Kai-kun is working here, to earn more money for the both of you!" I said even more in awe.

"Please don´t tell that in school, if the normal town people might get to know that Kai is working, as an elementary scholar already, they might decide to take him away from me, I though always wish for him to have a better future than I had, but I also don´t want to miss him and I am still not able to let go so easily of him!" Reiko-san said.

"Yeah Kai-kun explained to me that you, even though you are not his mother by birth, are more mother to him than everyone else, it´s kinda like my situation!" I said.

"How so, I though you come out of a wealthy family?" Reiko-san asked, as we went upstairs after she said hello to a few guests and co-workers.

"Yeah but even the wealthiest families can be full of black sheep, though in my family its rather the parents who are the black sheep, you know, there is only one in our family, I really can stand and who I really love and that is neither my mother, nor my dad, not even my Brother who studies abroad!" I explained.

"And who is it then?" Reiko-san asked.

"My nanny Shiraishi-san, she always supported me by everything I was doing as long as I was happy, she is more mother to me than my own by birth!" I explained.

"I see, in this you might be indeed same as Kai!" Reiko san said.

"Anyways we are here, Kai, Kai where are you, geez don´t tell me you are still sulking!" Kai´s mom said as she spotted her son looking out of the window.

"Well, whose fault is it?" He said with a frown.

"Geez you are such a little kid!" Reiko-san said.

"Anyways, Sensei is coming this evening, so please go take a bath and change clothes got it, and don´t try to peek in here while I wash Takako´s dress, or else you going to die!" Reiko-san said to him with narrowed eyes.

"Geez, what are you thinking of me, I am not such an old horny goat like those in front of the house, slapping every girls butt, every now and then!" Kai said while he took a towel out of one of the cupboards.

"Why is Ajino-sensei coming anyways, it´s not like there is a new competition in the next time around here at all!" Kai asked with annoyed expression.

"Sensei is coming to first scold you for beating up Kimpira, second for scolding Takako for running away from school all alone, and third to tell both of you something important about the next weeks of school, apparently there will be soon an event to start for your class!" Reiko-san said, equally annoyed.

"Why is he coming to scold me for anything, I mean he is not my dad or is he?" Kai asked.

"No but he might be in the future!" Reiko-san mumbled though Kai´s ears where still the best.

"Wait what was that, you don´t saying you fell for him don´t you, are you crazy, that guys like what, 45, maybe even older, and you, you are what, at least not more than 30 close to 31, that are still 15 years difference!" Kai said shocked.

"So what, age is only a number and love cannot be hold in cages, so just shut up and go to bath!" Reiko said harshly.

"I don´t believe it, do I really have to see him then every day?" Kai said as he closed the door behind him.

**A few Moments later:**

"Geez he´s such a baby, it´s nothing at that, I like Ajino-Sensei, and yeah maybe we become something more, but it´s still not said that it would come so far!" Reiko said annoyed, before she took a tub and a washboard.

"Now give me your dress please, I am going to wash it, you can put this on as long as it takes to clean and dry it okay, if you are cold, sit near the oven!" She said to me as she gave me a t-shirt of her, which was quite too long and big for me, but thanks to that also useful.

"Ah um thank you very much!" I said as I bowed.

"Geez, one sees that you are well mannered, but you don´t have to be so polite before me, as you see, not even Kai has much respect before me!" Reiko answered.

"Has he really such a bad reputation?" I asked.

"It´s not that he´s a rowdy or hated, the school don´t like us because, well, it´s just because we are quite poor, most what we have, has being paid by my reward for my job, while Kai is earning also money by working in the evening, that's why he mostly sleeps in the morning classes, or skipping school entirely, that was unfortunately so since he´s seven, but thanks to his effort , we at least manage to pay the school taxes, however it still only is reaching for this school!" Reiko-san explained.

"He was always a quite cheerful lad, learning even when no one teached him something specifically, just by watching and memorizing. It´s not like he´s dumb, au contraire, he is quite smart, thanks to many customers teaching him many things. I wish I could offer him a better live, I even tried once, but he entirely refused to leave me , he said that if he leaves me, there would be no one to protect me, despite his harsh character, from time to time, he is quite protectively over his friends and those he like!"

"I know, he also helped me today back in school, you see, after I introduced myself, there was that guy, Kimpira, who made fun of me and Kai for loving the Piano so much, then he started calling me names, but I think Kai was even madder about this than I was, as Kimpira pushed me to the ground, Kai has flipped and beat Kimpira down, everyone was shocked, I tried to reason him and making him stop, but he was not able to do so, so long until Kimpira was knocked out and Kai running away and into the forest, then as the Homeroom teacher began to make fun of him and starting to badmouth behind his back, I too had to get out of there, I did not know why , but I was so angry at our teacher, for simply ignoring the fact that Kai helped and defended me, and that he indeed was a great person, it was as if even the Homeroom teacher could not stand Kai!" I explained.

"I see and what happened then?!" Reiko asked me.

"Well running in the forest I sometime loosed the orientation, and suddenly there was that bear!" I said.

"Wait, a bear, but there are no bears in this part of the land!" Reiko asked confused.

"Well it was indeed not a wild bear, it was a circus bear, but still at that moment I did not knew it, and I was quite afraid, I guess I would have pissed myself, if Kai would not have jumped in front of me, then came the trainer of the bear and treated to narcotize it with a narcotic arrow.

But Kai prevented her to do so, by showing that the bear had no bad intentions and instead only wanted to play with us, then came the son of the director of the Circus and he was so happy about the found bear, that he offered Kai a job for a week, since there pianist has broken his hand!" I explained.

"I see, and did he accepted the job?" Reiko asked.

"Still not, I guess he first wanted to ask you for an okay!" I said.

"I see, well when it has been something to do with Piano playing then I will support him, it will do him good, you know he did not spoke, played or even ate much, since his piano has burned down, you know, all what´s left of it, were two keys, he said that he would keep one of it, and give the second to an important person of him!" Reiko said.

"So it will be you I guess?" I asked but she shook her head.

"Nope, he said that even though I was an important person to him, he said that the one getting the second key, has something to do with the Piano!"

"So it might be Ajino Sensei or Amamiya!" I said, as I thought about it.

"No, I also thought this, but honestly, now I think I know who it is!" Reiko said.

"And who is it?" I asked confused.

"Well, can´t you think about that for yourself!" Reiko said as she chuckled.

"Of course it would be you!" Reiko said.

"Me , me, but Reiko-san, I…, I am hardly hat important to him, I mean, we sure are friends but we know each other practically not, only for a few months!" I said trying to reason her.

"Sure for a friend he would not simply give up something precious, he defend his friends for sure, however, if he, like with you, freely would be stabbed three times, to keep you save, you have to be someone very important to him, so it would be only logically for him to give it to you, however this is only an thought of mine, I don´t know something concrete!" Reiko said.

"The bath is free, if you want you can use it now!" kai said as he came inside.

"Uhmm!" I said.

"Go ahead, no worry, I will keep him here!" Reiko said with a joke before she enclosed Kai in an embrace tickling him

"haha, hey that´s unfair, oh wait you!" Kai laughed as he tickled back, while watching Mother and son playing, I became quite a little jealous.

" Wow!" That was all I though as I entered the bathroom, it was a quite comfortable bath.

"In this tub, Kai-kun has bathed, only ten minutes ago!" I mumbled as I looked at the bathtub, I blushed at the thought.

"What the hell am I thinking!" I said, as I undressed and stepped into the newly filled bathtub.

"Exact the right temperature!" I mumbled.

"Takako, is the Bath hot enough!?" Kai asked from behind the door.

"Yeah, thank you very much!" I said as i almost jumped, blushing as I heard Kai´s voice outside.

"Say is it really okay for your parents to stay out so long, I mean school is long time out and it´s going over to the evening!" Kai asked.

"Well that's alright, beside of Shiraishi there is just no one who is waiting at home anyways, you see , actually, my parents, as they say, were so busy, that they send only me and Shiraishi down here for me to attend school, I guess I was not important enough to them, to come along!" I siad as I began washing me.

"I see, but I guess it would be better for Shiraishi san to know where you are and that you are safe, wouldn´t it?" Kai asked.

"I guess yeah!" I responded.

"Alright then I gonna give her a call, better she meets us at the circus!" Kai explained.

"I see, so your mom did agreed with you taking on this job for the Circus?" I asked.

"Yes, I guess she´s quite lucky, that I make my money this time by doing something I love, such as playing the piano!" Kai said.

"So get ready soon, we going to the Circus before seven , so that I still can get all things prepared for it!" Kai said.

"Takako!" He said after a while of silence, only disturbed by the splashing sound of the bathtub-water.

"Yes, what is it?" I asked.

"I´m happy that you are here, and that I can spend my days from now on with a friend!" He said, and I was buff.

"Uhm, i…, I am too happy a bout this!" I said blushing I didn´t really thought about how this would be for him, to be honest I only always had my own luck in sight, but that it would make him that happy, well it can´t be helping, he´s cute when he´s happy after all.

"Why the hell am I thinking this!" I said, although a bit too light.

"Huh, you said something?" He asked.

"Huh, uhh, never mind, by the way, when is Ajino-sensei comin?" I asked him to get off the topic.

"In a half hour, its only 5 pm by now!" Kai said.

"Ah I see, then I better hurry!" I siad with a smiled, before I finished to cleaning the soap of off me.

"Nee, Takako-san!?" Kai asked.

"Huh, what´s the matter Kai-Kun!?"

"Well, …, do you have a boyfriend?" Kai asked me and I blushed.

"How does you come at such a question!?" I asked him harshly.

"Just curiosity, sorry if I punched a bad spot!" Kai said.

"….. No, it´s just, that… actually I never really had a boyfriend before, I always keep saying that I am still too young, however, honestly, its just because I always was quite a loner, I never had that many contact with other children, only at Competitions or in school and most of them came out of wealthy, stinking rich families and most of them were uptight to no end, you know!" I explained truthfully.

"Oh yes I still remember my first time of being with Shuhei at his home, it was big and it stunk out of money, I mean a sound proof room, only for playing the piano, I was shocked to have to see what other piano lovers had, what I didn´t had, but still, I had an entire forest as my Play room and my own Piano I also had!" Kai said truthfully.

"I wished I could have seen the original, not only my imagination while you played at the Competition, you know I guess I would have even sung to the song, something, just everything which would have come to my mind!" I siad.

"Are you nearly done?" He asked after a while.

"Yeah almost!" I said.

"….Say, why did you stopped singing!" He asked.

"I did not sing?" I asked confused.

"No what I mean, was, you said you once loved singing more than playing Violin or Piano, so why did you stopped then!" Kai asked.

"Sigh, it´s quite complicated, you see, I come out of an musician family, even my grandparents were musicians, and well, my Grandmother of my Father´s side was a Singer, while my Grandfather, her ex-husband was a Piano player, both fell in love at a mutual concert in the Town hall, at least 60 years ago, then with 20 my grandmother had to give up singing for the sake of teaching and raising my father.

After Dad was old enough to take care of himself, she wanted to have a Comeback, however my Grandfather feared to be dragged back in the shadow by his wife, since she was always the star and he just the guy on the piano, blinded by his own fame and jealous of her big commercial success now and then, he denied her to sing again, even going as far as to mix things she was allergic against , under her meals.

This more and more destroyed her voice, until she barely could speak anymore, one day, she came behind it, that it was Grandpa who hurted her in this way, several cooks had already to lose their jobs so far, she then left my Grandfather in an very ugly divorce war and has not spoken a nice word to him in years.

Thanks to this my father has a trauma about singers, he dislikes them for what singing did to his parents!" I told why I dried myself off.

"That's why I gave up on singing!" I siad as I stepped out of the Bathroom.

"I see, well that's sad, I would love to hear you singing!" Kai said as he lied on the bed, playing with a ball, he sounded quite sad.

"You would have?" I asked.

"But of course, I bet you have an angelic voice!" He said making me blushing.

"I see, I think I was more the average under the shower singer, anyways putting that aside, say where is your mother?" I asked as I looked around the room, I spotted my dress washed and left to dry over the oven..

"She went to the bathroom downstairs, she wants to make herself chick for Ajino-sensei!" Kai said with an quite annoyed ring in his tone.

"Say, do you really, dislike Ajino-sensei that much?" I asked.

"It´s not that I dislike him, it´s just, you see, I just cannot see him as a father, and knowing that Rei is falling for him, doesn´t really help to overcome those feelings of dislike!" Kai said his mind outright.

"I guess you are right, there can´t be helped, anyways what now?" I asked.

"Well we going to wait, I guess your dress soon is dry again!" He said and so we laid down, logically on two different futons.

"Say Takako, if you would have the possibility to play Violin and to sing again, would you do it?" Kay asked.

"Maybe if I would have more confidence in me, but right now it would only be too early, that accident is actually only 2 years ago, and my mom still hasn´t forgive me for that, I guess, or if she doesn´t let me see it!" I said my head on Kai´s.

"Well as I said, I would love to hear you play violin and to sing again!" Kai said.

"Say Kai, to what, beside of Piano music, do you like to listen to?" I asked.

"Almost everything I guess, there is many I like, and you?" He asked.

"I guess much the same!" I explained.

"Cool!" he said smiling.

"It´s dry enough I guess!" Kai said as he took my dress, and touched it off.

"Yes it´s fairly dry, unfortunately it´s not ironed!" Kai said as he gave me the dress.

"Umm Kai!" I said and gestured him to turn around.

"Geez, it´s not like I don't see half naked women all day!" He said but still turned around and covered his eyes.

"Thanks!" I said as I dressed.

I was just done dressing as Kai´s Mom came in.

"Kai, Ajino-sensei is here!" Reiko-san said as she came with that classy dressed Man inside, I saw him only once in real life, but his music was of high regard in the piano world.

"Ajino-Sensei It´s an honour to meet you!" I said bowing before him.

"Nice to meet you too, Maruyama-chan I assume!" The sensei said.

"Yes you are right, Maruyama Takako!" I said Bowing again.

"So Kai, I heard you caused a lot of trouble in school?" Ajino-sensei.

"Kai, Kai I am talking to you!" Ajino-sensei said as Kai kept ignoring him.

"Sigh, can you tell me at least why you broke Kimpira´s nose, it was no one who really could explain it!" Ajino-sensei asked.

"You can ask Kimpira!" Kai snorted.

"I did, and he said that he did nothing to you!"

"That's right he did nothing to me!" Kai responded.

"So why did you hit him then?"

"Because he deserved it, he deserved everything I did to him, got it!" Kai shouted.

"Kai, i…, it was my…..!" I tried to say, but was cut off.

"No, don´t say anything, its not your fault, I am the one at fault, but I would always do that again, no matter how many times I would have to do!" Kai said.

"So you are ready for Punishment?" Ajino-sensei asked.

"Whatever you throw at me, it can´t be anything bad after all!" Kai said.

"You going to help out the organisations to build up the Summer camp in two weeks, the whole first two weeks of the three week Summercamp, did you understand?" Ajino-sensei asked.

"Is that all, thank god, I don´t have to see Kimpira's face for two weeks, it´s more a blessing than a curse, or even luck than a punishment, since I am quite good at organising things, as you have seen last year at the School festival, it was all nice planned and set, before Kimpira once again had to whine and destroy half of the decorations, and after beating him up, who got the whole blame again, obviously Myself!" Kai said.

"Oh and for Yu Maruyama , as Punishment for leaving the school without permission, and for yelling at your Homeroom teacher, you will Help the same two weeks in the Kitchen of the Summercamp!" Ajino sensei said. And I nodded.

"Whowowhow, wait, why is Takako being punished too, if anything, where is Kimpira going to be punished for calling Takako names, making fun of her, or in general, to mob her from the very first second on?" Kai asked trying to defend me, I blushed, it was kinda cute of him.

"Did breaking his nose was not punishment enough?" Ajino sensei asked.

"Not even close to enough!" Kai said with determination.

"I will think things through and going to berate with the other Teachers, maybe we can do something there!"

"Anyways are you ready to go, I heard you might have a great concert tonight!" Ajino-sensei said.

"Well I am ready, you too?" I asked.

"Sure, I´m always ready!" Kai replied as he took my hand and we went through the door.

Useless to say that I blushed, I don´t know it precisely, but I guess for him it´s nothing that important to take a girl by the hand.

"Well then shall we!" The Sensei said as Reiko-san took his arm and smiled.

" I don´t know Kai, but in my eyes they are the cutest pair ever!" I said.

"Which is in the eye of the beholder, I only say , I don´t like the thought of having Ajino-Sensei as father, I never needed a man to tell me what I shall do or not!" Kai said.

"I guess you are right, it lies in the eye of the beholder!" I said.

We walked for some time, but eventually we arrived the tent of the Circus.

"Good Evening, we are the company of Kai Ichinose, Mr. Sumiyama is awaiting us!" Ajino-sensei said to a clown.

"Of course, please follow me!" the man said as he led us to the back of the giant Tent.

"Ah Kai, it´s an honour and a joy to see that you still haven´t forgotten us, so tell me, what do you think about my offer?" The Junior director asked.

"Well I have nothing against, but I guess my manager first wants to see the contract!" Kai said and Ajino-sensei nodded.

"Sure thing, please come with me, the contract is in my caravan!" The Son of the Director said as he lead us to the Caravan.

"Huh, um you are not going to enter?" I asked confused, as I saw Reiko-san stopping before the caravan.

"Ajino-sensei is in first line a Teacher, so he know what's possible and what not for Kai, I believe in him taking the right decision for Kai!" Reiko san explained.

"Ah its done!" Ajino-sensei said, as he came back out of the door of the caravan, with the biggest smile ever

"I ´m going to hear Kais Piano again?" I asked.

"Yes but now give him time to prepare himself, it´still a bit hard to remember to play while imagining the forest, he had nightmares since the whole week, of him playing the piano in peace before suddenly the piano sets off in flames.

Anyways, we will waiting in the first row, and see what happens!"

"I hope he manage to play as good as he once played!" I prayed to the heaven.

"Please Piano god, lead Kai on his way through the darkness!" I prayed even more, folding my hands, as I waited with anticipation in my seat, suddenly the lights went out.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the Direction and the Artists welcome, to Circus Amarila, oh what a show we have for you tonight, Those who go through flames, the Fiare Brothers, our trapeze Artist, the Voldengos and many other acts, and not to forget our Clown-family, the Amarila Famiglia.

As every year, our Circus are getting accompanied by the house-own Ochestra, Stratos Varius!" Mr Sumiyama announced through the microphone, as a Light Cone fell on the orchestra where we also could see Kai on the Piano; I pushed both thumbs for him.

"Kai, you will make, it, you will play an awesome performance, I know, I believe in you!" I whispered and looked at him.

"Well then, first let´s play the hymn of our Circus. (Carnavale de Paris)!" The Director announced and applauded.

Now the time has come, to see if you are able to overcome fears!" Ajino-sensei, who stood next to me said as he watched Kai closely.

"Kai!" I said.

"I believe… In you!" I shouted as loud as I could , not caring the weird looks I got.

"Play, Kai, Play, Please, play now, Play, Please!" I prayed as I didn´t heard something, there were some murmuring around me.

And then I heard it, the first tone.

**A/N: and Second chapter is on, I wish for more views though ( only 5 since the update), please also a few reviews.**


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